The National Bank Open is scheduled to begin in Toronto at Sobeys Stadium on Saturday, August 1. This tennis competition is one of the oldest active events globally, and the 2026 edition will feature prominent players in women’s tennis.
Karl Hale, the tournament director for the National Bank Open in Toronto, noted that the event continues to draw top players, including 12 Grand Slam champions this year. The tournament is recognized as a premier event on the WTA Tour.
Top International and Canadian Players
The women’s draw for this year’s tournament includes the top five ranked players in the world. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is the top seed. Other top five seeds are Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Jessica Pegula of the U.S., Coco Gauff of the U.S., and Mirra Andreeva from Russia.
The top 10 also features Linda Noskova of Czechia, Iga Swiatek of Poland, Amanda Anisimova of the U.S., Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. Additionally, Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and four-time Olympic gold medallist, will participate via a wild card entry into the main draw. Out of the top 75 players, 72 are expected to compete.
While the reigning 2025 National Bank Open champion, Victoria Mboko, will not be playing due to an injury, several Canadian women are set to compete in Toronto. Leylah Fernandez, ranked in the world, is the sole seeded Canadian woman in the tournament. Her best performance at the National Bank Open was reaching the third round in 2023 when the event was held in Montreal.
Other Canadian players confirmed for the main draw include Bianca Andreescu, who previously ranked as high as number four in her career. She will be joined by Kayla Cross, aged 21, Katherine Sebov, aged 27, Cadence Brace, aged 21, and Rebecca Marino, aged 35.
Kayla Cross will be in the main draw after winning the Road to the NBO wildcard for the second consecutive time. This year marks her first opportunity to compete in singles in her home province. She recently reached a career-high ranking of 168 in the WTA rankings.
Bianca Andreescu, aged 26, is returning to Toronto, having won the National Bank Open title in 2019. She recently qualified for the Wimbledon main draw, her first Grand Slam main-draw appearance since the 2024 US Open. Katherine Sebov, aged 27, will make her first main-draw appearance since 2022. She received a wildcard following a strong end to 2025, which included reaching the semifinals of Toronto’s Tevlin Challenger and winning a W35 event in Monastir.
Cadence Brace, aged 21, will make her National Bank Open main-draw debut in Toronto. She also had a successful end to 2025, making the semifinals at a W100 event in Oklahoma and reaching her first WTA 125 final in Tampico. Rebecca Marino, aged 35, is also set to compete. She returned to play after a break and has reached the quarters or better in two of her first three events this year.
Prize Money and Tickets
The champion of women’s singles currently receives $752,275, while the men’s singles winner receives $1.1 million. Starting in 2027, the National Bank Open plans to award equal prize money to men and women as part of efforts to address the gender pay gap.
Tickets for the tournament are currently available online. Fans can purchase single-session tickets and multisession packages for each round. Free grounds passes are also available for Saturday, August 1, providing access to practice courts, secondary match courts, and on-site activities. The first 750 attendees with free grounds passes will receive a complimentary swag bag.
Source: thespec.com
